Just under a week ago, I revamped my web dev journey by taking up CS50x (Harvard's Intro to Computer Science) and CS50P (Introduction to Programming with Python) and what a blast in the past it's been.
Some years ago I took a similar course to CS50x when I had first gone to university (only to change my major a few times but that's for another day), and I'd never touched Python before so I wasn't prepared for just how frustrating it would be to switch between Scratch, C, and Python, but it has been incredibly refreshing.
Here's a recap of my first week:
What I Learned So Far
CS50x: I completed week 0 and week 1 - Scratch is particularly frustrating and tedious when you're already familiar with programming but I could see it as a useful tool for those brand new. I also revisited C and surprisingly, I retained a little bit of knowledge from that first course I took so many years ago.
CS50P: I also completed week 0 and week 1 - Python is incredibly simple to pick up and I was able to write some scripts pretty easily, but the simplicity of the language trips me up quite heavily with the syntax.
The Biggest Challenge: Honestly, the biggest challenge turned out to be writing syntax in a way that the CS50 checkers could actually grade my programs. Sometimes thinking outside of the box isn't the best!
The Best Part: Feeling accomplished - both in remembering how to use a language from long ago and figuring out a new language and seeing it actually run quite well!
What's Next?
I'll be continuing onto week 2 in both programs, and I'll be revisiting The Odin Project. So far, these CS50 courses have been a review in the very basics of programming languages but these are so vital to have a solid grasp on.
Soon I'll be diving into more data structures and algorithms, and perhaps dabbling in new technologies and frameworks. Suffice to say, I've still got a lot to learn, but I'm excited to do it. If you’ve taken CS50x or CS50P, what was your biggest takeaway from the first few weeks?
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